Story Highlights

The East Ramapo school district will soon remove beleaguered Superintendent Joel Klein from his post, almost a year before his contract is set to expire, several sources told The Journal News.

In recent weeks, the school board has faced intensifying pressure to distance itself from him – from community protests in front of Klein’s home demanding his resignation to state Regents Chancellor Merryl Tisch calling for the same.

The district, while not confirming that any action was imminent, did confirm “that Klein was in the last year of his contract and that the school board would soon develop a process for replacement.”

Buy Photo

Protesters call for the resignation of East Ramapo school Superintendent Joel Klein.(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)

District spokesman Darren Dopp said board President Yehuda Weissmandl “is committed to developing a comprehensive plan for succession. He wants the process to be orderly. He wants to assess the needs in the district, solicit community input and (state Education Department) input, establish a national search committee, attract good candidates and then make a collaborative decision. He wants this to be an open process – one in which everyone knows what’s happening and why. “

Weissmandl said Klein was “a person of warmth and caring who has accomplished a great deal in his 50-year career as an educator.”

In an exclusive interview with The Journal News on Thursday, Klein said he had no knowledge of any forthcoming action by the board, adding, “Time will tell. Anything can happen. Anything is possible.”

Klein said he has no intention of prematurely vacating his post because he and his team “have been doing some terrific things in the district. I wanted to give them time for a lot of the activities we’ve been working on to come to fruition and right the course in East Ramapo.”

CLOSE

Protesters call for East Ramapo school Superintendent Joel Klein's resignation in front of his home.
Video by Ricky Flores/The Journal News

He credits the school board with supporting his efforts to implement improvements in the district.

“They have been extremely good as board members," he said. "Dealing with policy, curriculum decisions, schooling decisions... They listen to arguments and make decisions based on information from the staff.”

Storm survivor

Klein, 72, has survived countless political and legal storms since the school board hired him in 2011. But the board has shifted the tone of its public communication in recent weeks as it faced mounting political and legal pressure, including the state Assembly passing a bill in June that would appoint a district monitor with veto power to override school board decisions. Had it passed the full Legislature, it would have been one of the strongest state interventions in a decade.

Buy Photo

Beverly Watson of Airmont protests in front of East Ramapo school Superintendent Joel Klein's home on July 12.(Photo: Ricky Flores/The Journal News)

What has led to this moment has been a steady diet of criticism of the school board. Critics have accused the board of dismissing public outrage about its decisions governing the predominantly black and Latino district of 9,000 students. The board is composed mostly of Orthodox Jewish men who send their children to private religious schools. One of the chief allegations centered on improperly aiding yeshiva students while making deep cuts to public schools.

“Over the last two or three months, we’ve taken some steps we hoped would make a big difference and be accepted and be perceived as such,” Weissmandl, the board president, said in a radio interview this week with Susan Arbetter.

Last month, after two years of community protest over its pricey and controversial law firm, Minerva & D’Agostino, the board finally hired a new firm, Harris Beach.

“I do think the past few weeks have been a game changer,” said Andrew Mandel, co-founder of Strong East Ramapo, a community activist group.

For his part, Klein said characterizations of the district by the media and in state reports are unfair.

Self defense

In a lengthy interview, Klein defended himself publicly for the first time about the state Education Depatment’s scathing June reports that blamed him for much of the district’s mismanagement. Klein said the reports were full of inconsistencies. More troubling, Klein said the district had already agreed upon a corrective action plan with the state and had been working since February to fix areas of concern.

“At this point, we believe every single thing on (the corrective action plan) has been corrected or is in the process of being corrected,” he said.

Reports that appeared in the media were much earlier drafts of the report that he had never seen, Klein argued.

In any case, Klein said he takes the reports seriously and he is deeply committed to ongoing improvements.

“Our goal is to make this district - compared to similar districts - the shining star,” he said.

As an example of the progress the district had made, Klein noted that East Ramapo did not appear on the Education Department’s most recent list of 144 struggling schools, which included schools in Yonkers and Mount Vernon.

“We were very close three or four years ago,” he said. “With a lot of hard work, we have avoided it. The districts who are on it are very similar to ours.”

Still, based largely on information contained in the state report, Tisch, the Regents chancellor, has called for his resignation.

In a rare comment about a local school district, Tisch told The Journal News this week, “To me, it’s common sense. You thank Dr. Klein for his service and move on, and he can, too.”

Those who have been his harshest jury echoed Tisch’s position.

“I believe the board will finally do the right thing and seek to replace Dr. Klein,” said Peggy Hatton, a community activist who has moved out of state. “I hope Dr. Klein will make a graceful exit and not try to enforce the last year of his contract. The district can ill afford to pay for two superintendent salaries... ."

Klein recently declined the option to seek another year in his contract, which includes a $250,000 base annual salary and $35,000 in annuities. Klein, who retired from the Clarkstown school district years ago, also receives $85,000 in annual pension payments.

Romel Alvarez of Spring Valley protests in front of East Ramapo School Superintendent Joel Klein home in New City in July. In October, Klein announced he was leaving the district; an acting superintendent joins the district Nov. 2. Ricky Flores/The Journal News